Swift transfer Thailand to UK...can send in Baht?

[pastafarian]

I've done quite a few SWIFT transfers from the UK to Thailand but none from here to the UK. I always send it in pounds sterling and have it converted when it gets here as the rates are always much better and plan to do similar next week when I transfer baht to the UK but thought I read somewhere that baht can't be sent, it needs to be changed into pounds prior to leaving which means I'd have to use Bangkok Bank's rate which isn't that good.

So does anyone know if I can send money by SWIFT in baht and have it changed into pounds when it arrives in the UK?

Thanks.

[Paul944]

Yes you can.

However, you will get a much better exchange rate if you let the Thai bank do the conversion and send pounds to the UK in stead of baht.

Just compare the baht - pound selling TT rate of the Thai bank with the bath- pound buying rate of the UK bank.

[meatboy]

do not,repeat DO NOT SENT BAHTS,not a good time to change bahts to gbp.unless you got 55+ gbp-bht.

see dirtycash topic,sending 6million to the uk.

[roblgs]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

[mikebell]

The baht is falling against $ so probably against UKP. Do it sooner rather than later as your baht will buy fewer pounds.

[personchester]

do not,repeat DO NOT SENT BAHTS,not a good time to change bahts to gbp.unless you got 55+ gbp-bht.

see dirtycash topic,sending 6million to the uk.

Hi meatboy ...

You are correct about the THB transfer matter to the UK.

But it might be better to print those money units in the official outline which is > GBP and THB < and

not > gbp + bht < as was printed above.

[chiang mai]

Deleted

Edited July 25, 2015 by chiang mai

[pastafarian]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

[chiang mai]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

49.95 is the rate for the number of baht you would receive for each Pound, somebody somewhere along the line misunderstood the question.

And good luck trying to persuade your bank in Thailand to send THB to the UK, (a bad financial decision if ever there was one).

Edited July 25, 2015 by chiang mai

[ozyjon]

I remember years ago, sending AUD to Europe, i would

always change to Pound then send the cheque, then

with SWIFT i was told (please don't quote me) that all

money was converted to USD then to local currency,

like the credit cards do,,

[Jonmarleesco]

I'm not aware that Baht cannot be sent from Thailand to the UK, or elsewhere. But then I've never tried. Send it in GBP, not Baht; the FX rate, as with GBP coming in, is much better.

[Jonmarleesco]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

Wrong way round. Each THB10,000 at 54.89 would see GBP182 transferred. The Lloyds rate is undoubtedly how much THB they would give in exchange for each pound; i.e. to them, GBP182 is only worth THB9,090; and the FX margin will be much greater. Remember, Lloyds is buying what BBL is selling.

[Sophon]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

You are looking at the wrong rates. Bangkok Bank's selling rate for a SWIFT transfer is 53.6775, the 54.89 rate you found is the bank's selling rate for cash.

As everyone has said, you will unquestionably get a better rate by transferring GBP.

Edit: For some reason Lloyds Bank don't seem to want to publish their exchange rates, but for comparison National Westminster Bank currently has a published exchange rate when receiving THB of 55.68 (and Lloyds bank's rate probably wont be much different). That rate is 3-4% worse than what you get in Thailand.

Sophon

Edited July 26, 2015 by Sophon

[chiang mai]

I'm not aware that Baht cannot be sent from Thailand to the UK, or elsewhere. But then I've never tried. Send it in GBP, not Baht; the FX rate, as with GBP coming in, is much better.

From the Bangkok Bank web site:

"Can I send funds to an overseas bank account in Thai Baht?

Yes, provided the receiving bank accepts Thai Baht. A “commission in lieu of exchange fee” of 0.25% of the payment amount, (minimum 300Bt, no maximum) plus Bangkok Bank’s outward transfer fee of 400Bt." http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/PersonalBanking/DailyBanking/TransferingFunds/TransferringOutOfThailand/Pages/OutwardFAQs.aspx

But from the BOT site:

"There is no restriction on the amount of Thai baht bank notes that may be brought into the country.

A person traveling to Vietnam, the People's Republic of China (only Yunnan province) and Thailand's bordering countries is allowed to take out up to THB 2,000,000. Taking out Thai Baht bank notes in an amount exceeding THB 450,000 requires declaration to a Customs Officer.

A person traveling to other countries is allowed up to THB 50,000." https://www.bot.or.th/English/FinancialMarkets/ForeignExchangeRegulations/FXRegulation/Pages/default.aspx

My belief is that THB cannot, as a general rule, be remitted overseas but am happy to be proven wrong.

[Maestro]

Banks in Thailand are not allowed to transfer THB abroad. You have no choice: the conversion to GBP must be made in Thailand.

[pastafarian]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

49.95 is the rate for the number of baht you would receive for each Pound, somebody somewhere along the line misunderstood the question.

And good luck trying to persuade your bank in Thailand to send THB to the UK, (a bad financial decision if ever there was one).

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated.

As for sending Thai baht to the Uk being a bad financial decision...The money I'm sending back isn't a huge amount, around 250k baht, and is from some land that I (my wife) just sold at quite a profit to when it was bought 7yrs ago. The 250k baht is from half a rai of land which cost about 750 pounds to buy so if 750 pounds to almost 5k pounds in 7yrs is a bad financial decision I'd love to see a good one.

[chiang mai]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

49.95 is the rate for the number of baht you would receive for each Pound, somebody somewhere along the line misunderstood the question.

And good luck trying to persuade your bank in Thailand to send THB to the UK, (a bad financial decision if ever there was one).

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated.

As for sending Thai baht to the Uk being a bad financial decision...The money I'm sending back isn't a huge amount, around 250k baht, and is from some land that I (my wife) just sold at quite a profit to when it was bought 7yrs ago. The 250k baht is from half a rai of land which cost about 750 pounds to buy so if 750 pounds to almost 5k pounds in 7yrs is a bad financial decision I'd love to see a good one.

Yet again you fail to understand. The bad financial decision is to try and send THB to the UK, which you can't do anyway because of BOT regulations. But were you able to do so, the UK high street banks would apply a prohibitively expensive exchange rate in order to convert your THB into GBP and it's that that would be a very bad financial decision when the exchange rate here in Thailand is so much better.

[pastafarian]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

You are looking at the wrong rates. Bangkok Bank's selling rate for a SWIFT transfer is 53.6775, the 54.89 rate you found is the bank's selling rate for cash.

As everyone has said, you will unquestionably get a better rate by transferring GBP.

Edit: For some reason Lloyds Bank don't seem to want to publish their exchange rates, but for comparison National Westminster Bank currently has a published exchange rate when receiving THB of 55.68 (and Lloyds bank's rate probably wont be much different). That rate is 3-4% worse than what you get in Thailand.

Sophon

Where did you find the SWIFT rate, online or in person from a branch?

[meatboy]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

You are looking at the wrong rates. Bangkok Bank's selling rate for a SWIFT transfer is 53.6775, the 54.89 rate you found is the bank's selling rate for cash.

As everyone has said, you will unquestionably get a better rate by transferring GBP.

Edit: For some reason Lloyds Bank don't seem to want to publish their exchange rates, but for comparison National Westminster Bank currently has a published exchange rate when receiving THB of 55.68 (and Lloyds bank's rate probably wont be much different). That rate is 3-4% worse than what you get in Thailand.

Sophon

Where did you find the SWIFT rate, online or in person from a branch?

your thai bank sets the rate,eg.11am.scb.bank sells the gbp.at telex transfer [TT] 54.48 so thats what you pay per pound,plus the sending charge.

swift do not set the exchange rate.so dont question anyone who advises you to change this end they are RIGHT.

[chiang mai]

To echo what others say... DO NOT send as Baht. Send as GBP, i.e. do the exchange at this end, and I would suggest also to accumulate all charges at this end too.

Bangkok Bank's current selling rate is 54.89, a relative asked yesterday in Lloyds which is the bank I will be transferring to and was given a rate of 49.95 so unless I'm missing something it would be better to send it as baht and have it converted on arrival?

You are looking at the wrong rates. Bangkok Bank's selling rate for a SWIFT transfer is 53.6775, the 54.89 rate you found is the bank's selling rate for cash.

As everyone has said, you will unquestionably get a better rate by transferring GBP.

Edit: For some reason Lloyds Bank don't seem to want to publish their exchange rates, but for comparison National Westminster Bank currently has a published exchange rate when receiving THB of 55.68 (and Lloyds bank's rate probably wont be much different). That rate is 3-4% worse than what you get in Thailand.

Sophon

Where did you find the SWIFT rate, online or in person from a branch?

In Thailand it's called the TT rate, stands for telegraphic transfer which was the forerunner to SWIFT